Japan coach Eddie Jones says France will need to be strong in two key areas if they want to topple the Springboks in Paris on Saturday.
Jones has tipped his hat to the Boks’ unmatched physicality and precision following their massive 61-7 win at Wembley, describing their power at the breakdown and set piece as “on another level”.
Speaking on the Rugby Unity podcast, the former England and Wallabies boss admitted he was blown away by the intensity South Africa brought to every collision.
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“Well, there were two areas that I noticed that were significantly different,” Jones said.
“One was their speed and the height of their work around the breakdown They were really quick, aggressive, and low.
“There was one breakdown when Malcolm Marx cleaned out one of our players, who was over the ball and caused the turnover. He plays for Kubota in Japan, and he literally looked like a bulldozer. He must have been half a metre in his height, and he just hit him, cleaned him out and took him off the ball. That was really impressive.”
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Jones says South Africa’s dominance at the scrum, maul and lineout reflected a new level of consistency in their forward play.
“Obviously, just the power of the scrum and maul – that’s always been a vital part of the Springbok game – but they’re so consistent in those areas now,” he said.
“In previous years, their lineouts have been a little bit wonky, but they’re so solid in the lineout and scrum now. We couldn’t get any sort of advantage although I thought we hung in there really well.”
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Photo: Luke Walker/Getty Images
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